College student from North Carolina studying abroad in the UK for a semester. Hoping to find a crown, and seeing what else I encounter along the way.

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Be-heading, Dread Steeds, & Warwick Castle Oh My!

Friday
morning I got up at the crack of dawn to go with Heather and Dr. SChweitzer to
Warwick Castle, about a two hour bus ride from Oxford. It was a gorgeous
morning, albeit a little chilly, but before I knew it we were off! Thank you
National Express bus service! We got there with plenty of time to spare before
the doors opened so we were one of the first in line. Warwick Castle is penned
as "Britain's Ultimate Castle" (where history meets theme park) and because
it was Halloween week it was in its "Haunted Castle" mode which meant
that as soon as I stepped through the gate I came face to face with a gruesome
eight foot tall angel of death. This basically set the standard for the rest of
the day. First we went off to the attraction "Merlin and the Dragon"
where we met the famous dragon that Merlin raised when he was young. However we
were not chosen as dragon lords, but I suspect that if you were over the age of
9 you didn't stand a chance. But we all secretly agreed that we were all real
dragon lord's but the dragon didn't call on us in order to keep our status
hidden. We then toured the great hall's and state rooms which were exquisite
and I kept taking way to many pictures (as you will see below). After that we
bustled to get in line for the scariest attraction there: The Castle Dungeons.
Joy.

Complete
with scary, wonderful actors, authentic rooms, the smell of urine, people
jumping out at you and audience mandatory participation I switched between
holding Dr. Schweitzer's hand and clutching Heather's arm. I don't like scary
things and if I see something jump out I don't scream and run away, I scream
and punch...however we were not allowed to touch the actors so my hands were
tied (In both senses). After we said our last prayer's with a scary looking monk in the first room we were led through rooms of medical dissection torture
(which was very gruesome and I usually like learning about that kind of stuff)
court rooms, I was chosen to be be-headed in one room (then found out I was
immortal, who knew?) and plagued by a witch before we were finally set free. I
think I may have had about five mini heart attacks and my adrenaline did not
stop pumping until well after lunch, which we had next. I had a yummy plate of
fish and chips and then we wandered back around the castle and through the
other attractions, which included a story about the king of England back in the
day, and how everyone prepared for battle. Next I had my picture taken with the
headless horseman and the dread steed (who was a Friesian, of course) which was
one of my highlights of the day. Then we went to see the birds of prey show
which showcased a young vulture, a bald head eagle, and a larger eagle called a
sea hawk (I think that's right). Pretty
impressive to see!

I then
tried my hand at archery for the first time in a while and my first time using
the long bow and I got a bull's eye! We then went for a tour of the complete
history of the castle in 25 minutes (it was very abridged but very
entertaining) scaled the ungodly amount of steps up to the ramparts and saw the
trebuchet (A large catapult and surprisingly Britain's largest working one)
fire a flaming faggot, got some great pictures and finally called it a day. We
found a pub called Witherspoon's to eat before we headed back on to the bus.

That
night I was dragged out to a club to be a wing girl which was fun, however I
did not get back until 3:30 a.m. so Saturday I slept most of the day haha.
oops. But then I went with A few people to the Isis Tavern for their Guy Fawkes
day celebration which included music of every kind ( I danced to African music)
chestnut and lentil soup, two mugs of steaming hot chocolate, and of course a
giant bonfire. It was a wonderful night although when I got back I could hardly
move I was so cold! But it was a great experience and I'm glad I went!

PICTURES:

Guy Fawkes Night at Isis!

I got a picture with this archer who had a bone to pick with Robin Hood